Taneycomo Troutfest

Guide Bill Babler with a pretty Taneycomo brown trout, one of
many browns and rainbows that couldn't resists a Rebel Tracdown
Ghost Minnow today.

Yesterday I talked about my excitement about the return of the Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnow and mentioned that I had one tied on for today's fishing. Well, when I got off the water this afternoon, the same bait was tied to the same rod (as was a larger Tracdown Minnow I had tied on another rod). I fished those two rods and two baits exclusively today and caught rainbows and browns all day. No giants, but plenty of stout pretty fish like the brown in the photo, which is being held by guide Bill Babler.

Babler, who has been guiding in this area for more than three decades, definitely knew where to take Lawrence Taylor of Rebel Lures and where we needed to aim our casts. We covered a lot of water today, but he took us to very specific stretches of bank that Babler considered right for our jerkbait approach or where he felt like we had a better-than-average big fish opportunity. I fished the Tracdown Ghost Minnow exclusively after lunch and was thrilled with the way it darts and with the way the small barbless trebles hook and hold trout. Ironically, the one best fish I lost today was on the larger Tracdown Minnow, which has regular barbed trebles. A 17- or 18-inch brown did two big jumps and on the second jump we had a parting of ways.

I've really enjoyed a couple of days of fishing at Lake Taneycomo and my stay at Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina. Taneycomo is a special trout fishery, with tremendous numbers of fish, good overall quality, and the ever-present possibility of a genuine giant. It's somewhere I hope to get to know far better over time.